Local camera club - a good experience

pentaxpete said:
I'm a member of the 'Oldie Oldies' Club now at 79 but I joined 'Clubs' when I was 15 - now it's true Clubs cannot get 'Younger members' -- by the time we get any new ones at Brentwood they are already in their 70's -- I try to organise 'Practical Outings' but hardly anyone turns up -- I'm lucky to get THREE ! If we go into the woods, say for 'Autumn Scenes and Fungi' the Oldie Oldies cannot walk far and cannot bend down to take Fungi -- then when it comes to entering photos they never enter unless I help them -- they cannot attach a photo to an e-mail to send Digital Images to the Projected Image Comp Secretary, then I keep writing it all out for them 'Click by Click' HOW to -Re-Size images for Projection so the Club Computer Software 'recognizes' it -- 1400 pixels if Landscape and 1050 pixels if Portrait shape and the correct way to put TITLE in 'CAPS' and 'by name' in SMALL.
Then they buy these 'All-Singing-All-Dancing' £ 2500 odd Nikon and Canon cameras with huge lenses but do not know how to even get it on 'Manual Exposure' or change the White Balance to 'Tungsten' or know what is the maximum flash synch speed when I ask them during flash evenings. New visitors will turn up (LATE ! ) to meetings and once they pluck up courage to go through the door and I talk to them and they show me their Camera they never have the BATTERY CHARGED through months of non-use so we cannot help them ! Then there are the members who get the new Syllabus card in May and by June cannot find it and by June keep phoning me up " What's on at Club tonight?" and I do a Fax copy and give it to them and they lose that as well ! Luckily my MEMORY is still good but many of the members I teach cannot remember more than 30 minutes or so -- I tell them " I wrote it all out for you " and they look at me with a blank look " Oh did you ? " I wish Clubs COULD get YOUNGER members even 50 years old is YOUNG for all Clubs in the EAF region !!
What a DIFFERENCE to Cebu Images Camera Club in the Philippines where I am a 'Guest Judge' when I go there -- they have a waiting list -- over 70 members, all ACTIVE and much younger --I will show you a pic taken when I Judged a B&W Print Comp - I took it with my :Old Fashioned FILM Camera' Zeiss CONTINA with 45mm f2.8 Tessar lens on 'Old Fashioned FILM'

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Contina by Peter Elgar, on Flickr
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I Love this post.
 
This is my first season in a camera club (Teesside's Gallery Photogroup) having come close to joining one several times over the years but never taking the plunge. Right now, I'm kicking myself for not having joined sooner. I've been made to feel very welcome, and there is just such a diverse range of photographic style and interest, that so far each club night has been really enjoyable. I've entered my first competition, and I'm really looking forward to hearing the judges feedback. We've had a Halloween themed practical night which gave an opportunity to experiment with lighting setups for a variety of still life setups and the club also arranged for a couple of models to attend. A second practical night on light painting will be held before the end of the month, and Joe Cornish is also giving a talk before the month end. All in all, it's been a very, very positive experience for me so far :-)

Cheers,

Simon.
 
mipevo6 said:
I visit quite a few clubs in my area (Yes i am one of those boring judges)

Some clubs have evolved and attracted a younger more diverse crowd (Mine is one such club) using social media, the web etc.. to attract new members.

Others have lots of members above a certain age who are not evolving and they are contracting as their membership declines.

The only advice I would give is to try a few as you might be pleasantly surprised.
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I am an active member of a club that is celebrating it's 100th Anniversary. Back in 2014 I was asked by a couple of the committee members about setting up a Facebook page which I did despite facing opposition from not only a number of the committee but also members of the club. ( It does make me smile as most of the members come from the film days (nothing wrong with that I have several film cameras) but seem to keep updating to the latest digital camera whilst bemoaning Facebook)

We use the page not only to promote the club and it's activities but also to keep existing members (who have liked the page) up to date with what happening every week and to remind them of hand in dates for the various competitions.

Having the FB page has certainly helped bring new members in and as you say clubs need to embrace social media to be able to connect with the younger generation.

As for entering comps etc I enter but I tend to enter images I like rather than ones I think the judge will like, I know some people who will look at the types of image the Judges take and try and use images of the type.
 
One great use for camera clubs is for when you are going on holiday to a location that you haven't visited before. A quick email to the local camera club has always resulted (for me at least) in a good list of places to visit for photographic purposes. I have also discovered some real hidden gems as well that are not always advertised to the public and which I would never have known about otherwise.
 
Penfold711 said:
One great use for camera clubs is for when you are going on holiday to a location that you haven't visited before. A quick email to the local camera club has always resulted (for me at least) in a good list of places to visit for photographic purposes. I have also discovered some real hidden gems as well that are not always advertised to the public and which I would never have known about otherwise.
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That's actually a very clever idea I would have never thought to do that!
 
One great use for camera clubs is for when you are going on holiday to a location that you haven't visited before. A quick email to the local camera club has always resulted (for me at least) in a good list of places to visit for photographic purposes. I have also discovered some real hidden gems as well that are not always advertised to the public and which I would never have known about otherwise
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Good idea, but round here all you would have got was oap coffee clubs, pilates for the over 60's and the local coach tour holiday company
 
I just found some photos taken by my Wife of ME Judging at the Cebu Images Camera Club Philippines. We are Guests there every time we go to Phlippines. They have a waiting list for membership! They are all 'Active' -- not just sit to be entertained and let their cameras go rusty ! They have a circular table not like in British Clubs where you sit in rows like in Church. Before the meeting they have a full DINNER of Rice, Noodles, Spring Rolls, Chicken / Pork and soft drinks. They have a Microphone ! They have good events such as the annual 'Swim-Wear' at the beach with Models ( I MISSED that meeting ! ) and this year their outing is to TAIWAN !
I can't get our members to go to Shenfield Common Pond or to attend the annual 'Christmas Lights and Floodlit Buildings' Practical events. They bring cameras and various Gadgets to meetings to show and chat.
Images email 04.JPG Images email 01.JPG Images email 02.JPG Images email 03.JPG
 
Interesting points, Rich. I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments. I definitely don't "like the OAP morning club" vision.

One solution, particularly in a place like Cambridge, might be to start a meet-up group (if one does not already exist) and I'm sure you would find plenty of people interested in joining. So if a camera club turns out to be not for you, there are alternatives!
 
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